Uber and Lyft Now Have Free Rein at Los Angeles Airport

James Nash, Bloomberg

- Aug 27, 2015 12:30 am

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Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. will be able to pick up and drop off passengers at Los Angeles International Airport within weeks, after the City Council made it the largest U.S. city to permit the companies at its airport.

In a 9-6 vote Tuesday, the council agreed to allow the ride-sharing services to operate alongside taxis at LAX, the second-busiest U.S. airport by passenger volume. Currently, the companies can drop off passengers at LAX but not pick them up.

The council vote also calls on state regulators to come up with a protocol for fingerprinting and otherwise checking the backgrounds of drivers, with the goal of uniform standards for taxis and the ride-sharing companies.

“Angelenos and visitors to our city are using services like Uber and Lyft to get to and from the airport in a manner that is unregulated, unmonitored, and inconvenient,” Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who supported the resolution, said in an e- mailed statement. “Our challenge has been to meet the demands of a changing marketplace to ensure safety, transparency, and accessibility.”

The busiest U.S. airport, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta, could have Uber and Lyft pickups within months after Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed regulations in May. In the U.S., 54 cities and states have regulated and permitted ride- sharing, Uber spokeswoman Eva Behrend said in an e-mailed statement.

This article was written by James Nash from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

Photo Credit: A Lyft passenger Christina Shatzen gets into a car driven by Nancy Tcheou, in San Francisco. Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing companies may soon be able to pick up passengers at Los Angeles International Airport. Jeff Chiu / Associated Press